


Crystallizing in the Cold

by SentientMango



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Canon Universe, Cold, Cold Weather, Gen, Hypothermia, Logan (mentioned) - Freeform, Morality | Patton Sanders Angst, Morality | Patton Sanders-centric, Snow and Ice, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28838406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SentientMango/pseuds/SentientMango
Summary: Patton is enjoying a nice walk in the winter world of the imagination, but things don’t go as planned when he finds himself falling through ice.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114595
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo, TSS Fanworks Collective





	Crystallizing in the Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Bthb prompt- falling through ice

Patton wandered around the edge of the frozen lake in the imagination, he loved the smell of winter. He blew out intentionally and smiled at the puff of frozen breath, dragon breath, oh how he’d missed this.

The lake was newly frozen, and Patton could tell the middle was barely covered by ice if it was at all. Patton wiggled his fingers in his gloves, they were already starting to go numb, he probably wouldn’t spend too much time out here, he’d go rejoin the others soon.

The others were not in the mood for outdoorsy stuff, which was fine! He’d normally come out here with at least one other person, Roman, Logan, or Virgil were the normal candidates although Patton would never turn down company from anyone else! But today everyone had just wanted to sit next to the fire and feel warm and cozy. Patton understood, in the cold frosty forest he certainly found himself liking the idea of sitting next to the fireplace in a cozy jumper too.

But on the other hand, Patton did kind of wish he had some company, only a little though, it was so pretty, and it was a shame he didn’t get to share that with anyone, but they were having fun playing games or making cookies or something and Patton was fine coming out alone. 

A deer with extravagant blue horns scampered into the woods and Patton sighed happily, nature was a truly remarkable thing even if it was make believe. The wind whipped in his face, bringing small particles of snow it picked up from the ground and nearby trees with it. Patton tugged his jacket a bit closer, half regretting not wearing the coat he had left in his room.

He sidestepped a few trees as he continued walking along the snowy lake side, everything was just so-

There was a crack under Patton’s feet and he paused. That didn’t sound like how stepping on a stick soun-

CRACK

Patton plummeted through the ice he hadn’t even realized he’d been standing on.

He gasped for breath as his head popped out of the water, his feet barely finding ground to stand on again. The ice was already sinking into his bones and his clothes were imprisoning him as they clung to his skin and weighed him down, trying to drag him back into the frigid depths he’d just managed to emerge from. He had no idea how he was already so deep in the lake, wasn’t it usually a gradual thing? Patton's breath came in shallow gasps as he looked around frantically for a way out.

But self preservation had never been his strong point.

When he had tried and due to its unstable nature, failed to push himself onto the ice, Patton tried to recount all the winter walks he’d taken with Logan, surely he’d said something about this.

But Patton was just so cold. His fingers were screaming from their soaked gloves and he couldn’t focus on anything but panic.

Patton glanced around and saw a tree root, it was close enough, and if he really  _ really _ tried, maybe he could drag his way out.

His side screamed as he tried to reach over and tried to slide his way out of the hole using the root as leverage. He stretched and managed to get a hold on the root. Slowly, Patton managed to drag his way out.

Patton collapsed against a tree and sighed shakily as he tried to stop himself from crying. The visual of his breath he’d marveled at just minutes earlier felt like a bitter reminder of the ice that was clinging to his skin.

He needed to move. 

Patton slowly got to his feet, partly to avoid slipping on any ice that might be nearby, and partly because he simply couldn’t move any faster. 

As Patton stumbled back towards the door of the imagination, it wasn’t too far. He tried to remember what he was supposed to do in this situation. Was he supposed to take the wet clothes off? How long did he have before this was bad? Was it already bad? Patton’s brain felt foggy as he reached for the answer, trying to produce the information he knew Logan would have known.

Patton stumbled as his foot caught on a snowman they’d made a few days earlier, luckily he didn’t fall. Everything felt so heavy, if he fell he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back up. He could feel his clothes crystallizing against his skin as the wet clothes froze.

Patton saw the door and flicked his hand to open it as he approached, he didn’t want to spend any more time than he needed in the cold.

After what felt like years of walking Patton arrived at the door. As Patton walked through, the warm air temporarily relieved him of the icy chill that was set into his bones, but as soon as the relief came, it was snatched away. 

Patton couldn’t stop trembling as he stumbled out of the imagination room. It took him four tries to open the door into the hallway, it wasn’t even locked. 

His eyes felt unfocused as he failed to focus on the ground and tripped over his own feet. 

“Patton is that you?” Roman called from downstairs, “You’re finally biting the bullet and hanging out with the rest of us indoor dwellers huh!”

All Patton could do was whimper as he approached the stairs, there was no way he could walk down those, his legs felt like jello and he couldn’t even stop tripping over his own feet, let alone walk down a flight of stairs. 

There was a beat of silence and then Virgil appeared at the bottom of the stairs, he looked like a smudge to Patton, but in an instant he was at Patton’s side calling for help. Patton didn’t even realize he was swaying until Virgil arrived and steadied him.

Patton tried to force his eyes open, but he was home and safe and as much as he tried he couldn’t stop himself from drifting. As he drifted off he couldn’t hear his friends desperately begging for him to stay conscious, he just heard murmurs, they sounded so far away, calling through the thick wall of sleep between them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on tumblr- @thesentientmango
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, if you did please let me know!


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